Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Huawei’s market share of smartphones has reached 20.9% in the Saudi market by the end of Feb 2018. However, Qinsong (Jim) Xu Vice President Global Product Marketing Huawei Consumer Business Group spoke with confidence that this percentage will reach 50 percent in just a few months from now. He said “we are confident that our market share will increase because most consumers know us, trust our products and send us positive feedback.” The other “key factor” is Huawei’s continuous investment in technology and innovation Qinsong (Jim) Xu told Saudi Gazette.

Speaking about their market share in the GCC region, Qinsong (Jim) Xu said they are expanding worldwide and this region is no exception. GFK data, he said, revealed that Huawei is growing fast in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Aside from China where Huawei is leading, share in some countries that Huawei is expanding rapidly are Italy, Spain, Poland, and Malaysia.

Asked about job creation and training local talents, he said they aim to attract Saudis from local universities and send them to China for training. They are keen also to recruit Saudi students who study in China on scholarship programs. Huawei, he added, wants also to provide equal opportunities for women who want to join the industry. As part of achieving the Kingdom's Vision 2030, Huawei said it will continue to pump more investments that will bring more progress for young Saudis. Worldwide, Huawei has invested over the past 10 years at least $45 billion in research and development.

Qinsong (Jim) Xu also said that Huwaei is open to partner with any dedicated Saudi partners. Thus, they have held lately a summit in Riyadh under the slogan of “Open, Cooperation, Success”, which was attended by 600 clients and partners. The company has also launched in Saudi Arabia its largest maintenance and customer service center in the region. Saudi talents at the center have been trained to use state-of-the-art maintenance technologies and serve the brand’s customers, said the vice president.

Huawei Consumer Business Group also recently unveiled the much-anticipated Huawei P20 Pro. The smartphone features the world’s first Leica triple camera that includes unprecedented AI advances. P20 Pro will be available for pre-booking by April 19, and it will be in Saudi market beginning May this year.